A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to delivery vehicles that can be used to transport active ingredients to a subject. In certain aspects, the delivery vehicles can be nano-clusters that can be used in preventative or therapeutic applications.
B. Background of the Invention
Millions of people worldwide suffer from a wide variety of diseases or conditions that would benefit from the effective delivery of therapeutic and or preventative agents. Examples of these diseases or conditions include pulmonary diseases, circulatory diseases, muscular diseases, bone diseases, cancers, etc.
The use of nano-particles as drug delivery vehicles has been employed for a variety of indications (John 2003). Nano-particles, for example, have been shown to improve the dissolution of poorly water-soluble drugs and enhance the transport of drugs both intra- and paracellularly. In addition, literature indicates that plasmid DNA can be effectively delivered by polycantionic polymers that form nano-particles when mixed with DNA resulting in enhanced gene expression (Kumar 2003). Research efforts on nano-particle-mediated gene therapy also address treating genetic disorders such as Cystic Fibrosis (Griesenbach 2004).
Most nano-particle formulations are designed for action at the cellular level. This assumes the efficient delivery of the nano-particle to the appropriate cellular target. However, current nano-particle treatment options are limited in the ability to access the cellular target. For example, two research groups are currently investigating microencapsulated nano-particles as a mode of nano-particle delivery to the pulmonary epithelium (Sham 2004, Grenha 2005). These efforts are hindered by the common inability to control microparticle size, distribution, and difficulty in delivering a large payload of therapeutic nano-particles.